Ouch

Well, tonight was a rather forgettable night for New York hockey. Washington 5, Islanders 2. Montreal 6, Rangers 2. That's a total of 11-4. Meanwhile, the stupid Devils won in overtime. Ugh.

Let's start with the Rangers. I, for one, am not in favor of any back-to-back games in which a team would have to fly to the second city. As in, it's asking a lot for the Rangers to complete an emotional comeback win against Pittsburgh, which included five extra minutes of play and a shootout, fly to Montreal, get in late, get a crappy night of sleep, and be forced to play against the fastest team in the Eastern Conference the next day. So it's no surprise that the Rangers got killed tonight, letting up four goals in the game's first 15 minutes. I could be really tough on the Rangers and point out that both Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund were minus-4 tonight, but in a game in which only five Rangers escaped without minus ratings, it's a bit redundant. One positive for the Rangers was Petr Prucha, who dropped the gloves with Maxim Lapierre. It's nice to see a guy like Prucha try to do something outside of his skill set to spark the team; that it didn't work shouldn't diminish his efforts. Lapierre, by the way, ended up with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, so kudos to him as well.

As for the Islanders... well, the score didn't really tell the whole story. The game was 3-2 until there were four minutes left in the game, when Washington got an insurance goal; they would later add an empty-netter. This is the second time in the past couple of weeks when the Islanders have gotten blown out after a long period of rest. Say what you want about the Isles getting fatigued in third periods, but it seems like the regular work keeps them a bit more focused. They weren't quite as bad as they were in Jersey, which was the last time they really looked like crap, but they weren't close to the better team tonight. The Capitals were inspired by Alexander Ovechkin, who did it all tonight for the Capitals. From scoring goals to getting involved physically, Ovechkin was dominant. Still, it was the space he helped create for his teammates that was his biggest contribution. It's always a bit humbling to watch these games as an Islanders fan - after a game such as this one, it's so clear that the Islanders have a long way to go.

Around the league, it's been a pretty high-scoring night. Checking the goals-per-game stats just a moment ago, we're at 5.84 goals per game across the league. And in case you're wondering, San Jose is tops with a ridiculous 3.88 goals per game. Another fun fact you might not be aware of - the Islanders (2.68 GPG) and the Rangers (2.66 GPG) are nearly identical in goals per game, but the Islanders have allowed nearly a goal more per game (3.40 vs. 2.52). This is why the Rangers have nearly doubled the Islanders' point total. One last fun stat for tonight? Sure, why not? The Rangers and Bruins have the same point total, but the Bruins' goal differential (1.16) is a full goal higher than that of the Rangers (0.14). What to make of this? Not really sure. Except that Ottawa and their zero goal differential have 22 points, yet the Rangers and their 0.14 goal differential have 38 points. In other words, the Rangers had better start putting teams away and stop relying so much on Henrik Lundqvist to win games for them.